100 Years in Yellowstone - Then and Now

The National Park Service celebrated its 100th birthday in 2016. In the years since the NPS took over park management, Yellowstone National Park has changed profoundly. Here's how things looked in 1916 compared to 2016.

Number of Visitors

Early Yellowstone visitors at Handkerchief Pool (1923)

National Park Service

A crowd watches Old Faithful erupt on a summer afternoon.

NPS Jacob W Frank

2016

1916

4,257,177park visitors

35,849park visitors

Train Stations

A stagecoach leaving the Gardiner train station headed to Yellowstone (1904)

National Park Service

2016

1916

0train stations at entrance towns

5train stations, the closest being Gardiner and West Yellowstone

Cost of Hotel

The Old Faithful Inn in 1912

National Park Service

Yellowstone's Old Faithful Inn current day

Grant Ordelheide

2016

1916

$208for a standard hotel room in Old Faithful Inn

$50for an all-inclusive 5.25-day package that included lodging, meals and stagecoach tours

Park Roads

A car stuck on a muddy road in Yellowstone (1925)

National Park Service

Yellowstone's East Entrance Road over Sylvan Pass current day

NPS/Neal Herbert

2016

1916

310miles of paved roads

0miles of paved roads

Entrance Fees

Cars driving under the Roosevelt Arch at Yellowstone's north entrance (1924)

National Park Service

Car driving under Roosevelt Arch in 2016

NPS/Neal Herbert

2016

1916

$30park entrance fee

$5-10park entrance fee, depending on the number of seats in your car

Park Rangers

A Yellowstone park ranger feeding a marmot in the 1930s

National Park Service

Park Ranger Heather Basak at Palette Spring, current day

NPS/Jacob W Frank

2016

1916

800park rangers

~25park rangers

Park Lodges

Yellowstone's Mammoth Hotel in 1913

National Park Service

Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, current day

Jeff Vanuga

2016

1916

9park lodges

8park lodges

Number of Months Open to Visitors

Removing the snow with hand shovels on Swan Lake Flat (no date)

National Park Service

Snowplowing Madison to Old Faithful, current day

NPS/David Restivo

2016

1916

12months open to park visitors

2.5months open to park visitors (June 15-Sept. 1)

Number of National Park Sites

"Half Dome, Apple Orchard, Yosemite”

Ansel Adams, April 1933

2016

1916

410national park sites across the nation

30national park sites across the nation

Number of Wolves in the Park

Yellowstone rangers with coyote pelts in 1927

National Park Service

2016

1916

99wolves in the park

Darn-near 0wolves in the park, according to park historian Lee Whittlesey

Tori is the Co-Brand and Content Director for National Park Trips Media. She specializes in writing inspiring national park travelogues, foodie adventures and personal, heartfelt stories of people who shape our culture.